Je t'amie les toiles!

I love toile fabric.  It is a french word meaning "canvas" with which the artist designs upon.  Most toile fabrics show realistic scenery, animals, botanicals, farming or entertaining venues.  And mostly, the artist uses only 1  or 2 colors with it's many variation of tones to create their work.          Mais oui, tres French!

awe FODDER!

Ever heard the term "fodder"?  I hadn't until last Fall when I came across some videos on Youtube. People grow and feed their chickens wheat grass or barley grass.  They cultivate containers of the stuff as a special treat for their flocks.  My little ones love fodder.  I've tried barley.  I've tried rye.  The only thing that has worked well for me is wheat.  Here are pictures of the beautiful grass that grows in just a few days.

Isaiah 40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of YHVH, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:5 And the glory of YHVH shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of YHVH hath spoken it.6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of YHVH bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

WEIGHING IN on the KARDASHIANS

This family has captured the spotlight with Bruce Jenner’s revelation of needing to finally live his life according to what makes him happy.  It is truly tragic.  But not because Bruce has been living a lie; you can hear that message in a dozen places.  It is tragic because our spiritual enemy is alive and well twisting and deceiving the minds of the masses all in the name of love.

What is love really?  Is it sitting by watching someone destroy their life?  Is it preaching that there are no eternal consequences for our temporal earthly actions?  Apparently, the Kardashians believe so.  But if your worldview has any biblical parameters, you will realize this will not end well for the Kardashians.  Maybe they will enjoy their fame.  Maybe they will be judged successful by their money.  Maybe they will have a louder voice than most…..temporarily.  But they will not escape what is coming for all of us; a day when we will stand before our Creator to be truly judged by the only Righteous Judge that matters.  Our actions will determine whether or not we loved Him and His ways according to His word or self. 

Our Creator says:

Deut 22: 5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment for all that do so are abomination unto YHVH thy God. 

When He uses the word “abomination” it is defined as “disgusting” followed by a punishment of death.  Should we sit by silently and put our arm around Bruce Jenner’s shoulder, keeping our mouth shut of what is certainly his eternal fate?  Is that “love”?

I think what should never surprise us is that the wicked act wickedly.  The unrighteous behave unrighteously.  But we cannot distort the message to say that this perversion of the truth is now our Father’s Truth.  We, those of us who do care what our Father says and are transforming our thoughts and opinions to line up with His, we cannot go along with this very skewed message of love.  This is not love.  This is hate for our fellow human beings.  It is HATE to not tell them what is coming.

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness. 19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

It doesn’t get anymore clear than that.  The Kardashians, in their “vain imagination” and self worship, have very foolish hearts.  The are darkened to THE TRUTH and our Father has made them to become fools.  And very foolishly they act, every one of them.  They are self indulgent, mockers, greedy, sexually immoral, perverting their bodies and an example of everything wrong with our modern theology. If we truly love them, we will tell them so….even at great personal risk.  We come to the Father and die to ourself, so that we may live…..or we don’t come at all and are guaranteed to perish!

Now that's FAVOR!

Yesterday, our tennis team participated in the City Finals playoff in Atlanta.  We had worked hard to get to this point and its always an exciting time.  My partner and I were getting ready to go on the court after our line 2 had lost.  Line 1 was still playing.  We found a quiet place to stretch and say a prayer to our Father.  I remember being very intimidated to play line 3 and had asked my children to pray and my teammates to pray for me.  That morning, my partner and I asked for the favor of YHVH over our time on the court.  Whether we won or whether we lost, all the glory would go to Him.  And in those moments, the stark reality of what our time on earth is really about, came into focus.  "Let us be an example of You, Father.  Let our words bring you honor and not shame.  Let our attitudes bring glory to You above all else."

I must say, we have the privilege of serving the King of Kings and Lord of Lords whose blessings are unending and unimaginable.  As we warmed up with our opponents, our Line 1 teammates won their match.  The Coordinator came over to inform us that we had won the City Final championship.  Apparently, our opponents had forfeited Lines 4 & 5 so their loss at Line 1 put them out of the competition.  Now that's FAVOR!  When He is for us, who can be against us!!!!

The sad news came afterward when we heard that our opponents had planned on cheating, bringing team members in to play their last two lines who were not really a part of their team.  When the Coordinator asked to see photo ID, their plans were ruined.  It doesn't pay to cheat.....especially when those you're trying to cheat have YHVH on their side.

Congrats to my teammates.  Great season of tennis!

A Rose is not just a Rose

I absolutely adore "New Dawn" roses.  They are unlike any roses we've ever had.  We planted two climbers 10 years ago and now they are 30 ft in the air dripping over themselves.  They are breathtaking.......and so french, don't you think?  And it doesn't hurt to throw in a few statues to complete the look.  "C'est magnifique!"

A belated "happy Mother's Day" to all my friends and family.  Sorry, I didn't get to say it sooner.  My tennis team is in the city finals and we must practice, practice, practice keeping me very busy.  

Nothing says "I love you" more than roses and this year, my New Dawn roses are especially gorgeous.  They climb up my front chimney, trail over my garden trellis in my secret garden (oops, you've not seen that yet) and reach to the sun over the pergola in the vegetable garden.  

"Thank you, Father, for your kindness and the beauty you've surrounded us with.  Life would be unimaginable without your acts of mercy and grace upon our lives.  May we live worthy of your undeserved gifts."

Song of Solomon 2

I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.2 As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. 

I sat down under His shadow with great delight, and His fruit was sweet to my taste.4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and His banner over me was love.5 Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.6 His left hand is under my head, and His right hand doth embrace me.

7 I charge you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and by the hinds of the field, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, till He please.8 The voice of my beloved! behold, He cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.9 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart: behold, He standeth behind our wall, He looketh forth at the windows, shewing Himself through the lattice.

10 My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.11 For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;13 The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.

Southern Engineering......

Just thought I would share my coffee table with the world......since it's certainly been around the world.  We found the doors (or shutters or windows) at a place in Santa Fe, New Mexico, when we were on a family ski trip years ago.  A wonderful little store called "Jackalopes" where the adventures began.  They have antiques from all over the world...hence this door unit from Turkey.  My sweet husband made it into our coffee table.  Certainly none other like it.... and Vinnie loves to sleep underneath.

Oh, and guess who we saw at this quaint mercado?  Wes Studi, "Magua" in Last of the Mohicans.  My kids ran up to him to ask "are you Magwa?".  It didn't hurt that the guy was a native Oklahoman, where we are from.  Even though he was with his wife and in his private time, he was gracious to his little fans.

Psalm 104:23 Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening.24 O YHVH, how manifold are Thy works! In wisdom hast Thou made them all: the earth is full of Thy riches.

Roo.....shame on you!

This guy is certainly nice to look at but he just can't seem to remember who's boss.  For some reason, we have to have a broom lesson every so often.  I use the broom to chase him until he cries and he leaves me alone for about a month without trying to spur me.  This is our pattern and it's the only thing that seems to work.  Guess he just has a short memory.

Our flock is up to 20 with 3 roosters.  Only 6 of our hens are laying right now and 11 will start laying at the end of the summer.  Anybody need any eggs?

The smallest one in the picture is part of a trio of french birds.  They are called mille fleur d'uccle and they lay petite little white eggs.  Two hens and rooster and he thinks he's as tough as the big rooster.....that is until they get into it.

The French Maran lays the darkest eggs and the Americauna lays the blue eggs.  Most of the other eggs are a pale pinkish or flesh color produced by our Buff Orpington and Bard Rock.

Psalm 89:45 The days of his youth hast Thou shortened: Thou hast covered him with shame. Selah.

I would say that Fabio, the rooster, better be grateful for his long life so far...... could end soon! lol

Bring back "the bustle"

My daughter's new drapes, courtesy of your's truly.  We saw this style in Arhaus.  If you've never been to Arhaus, find one and go.  You won't regret it.  The store itself (not to mention their products) is a designer's muse.  I happened to have met the stylist in the Georgia store one day.  She looked just like the rest of us, jeans and a pony tail.  It's hard to believe that much talent and vision came out of one little person.  Seriously, I couldn't be more serious......go to one of their stores!

Jentry found some gold silk and wanted the same drapes we found in Arhaus.  For the specifics, you need to take your window height and divide it by how many bustles you want.  Whatever the number is,  add 1.5 to 2 times that amount for each bustle of fabric.  In other words, if you have 100 inches in total height of your window, dividing by 5 bustles is 20 inches for each one.  This is the calculation for the lining.  For the fabric and  for a minimum amount of fullness, each bustle should be 30 inches (1.5X 20 inches) of fabric.  Or for a really full bustle, you will need 40 inches (2X 20inches) for each one.  Or another way to say it is to multiply the total height by 1.5 or 2 (depending on desired fullness), or 200".  However in stating it this way, you still will have to go through the above calculation, dividing and marking the lining into the five sections.  As well, divide and mark the fabric into 5 sections, sewing the two sections together where you marked each one.  What will happen is that you have double the amount of fabric sewn to the lining.  Therefore when you hang it up, the extra fabric bustles or hangs over itself.  It is best to work with some stiffer fabric to get a nice fullness.  If your fabric is too limp, you can place some tissue between the fabric and lining to create some extra dimension.

Hope you like it!!!

Ma Maison des Poules (chicken coop)

not my nesting boxes but a really cute idea!

It's time to clean it out again.  We clean the floor, walls, roosts and nesting boxes of our chicken coop once a year only.  Black gold is what we call the litter.  It has been composting over the last several months and turns normal garden soil into highly charged nutrient soil.

Our coop floor is the deep litter method.  We use pine shavings, stirred up a couple of times every week and another layer added every month.  It keeps the coop smelling like wood chips instead of ammonia.  And as the litter decomposes, it puts off heat thereby provided some additional warmth to my little flock in the winter months.

This coop is actually a playhouse that we had built on our property with a few additional windows.  We added upper drafting windows near the roof on each side of the house, a nesting box hinged window as in the picture below to gather eggs easily and an even lower window on the opposite side hinged on it's top edge.  It allows us to open it as a trap door and sweep everything out.

 Eek 44:23...teach my people the difference between the holy and the common and show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.

our nesting boxes are accessed from the outside

looks like a cottage in the woods

a dutch door helps with ventilation during the hot summer

nice ending to my Sabbath......

Sabbath

Josh made this cross for me by hand.  He chiseled the word "Tetelestai" "It Is Finished".

Today is our Father's Sabbath day.  He instituted this day "for man", all men, from the beginning.  It is a day holy, set apart from the other 6, special, consecrated and sanctified.  Not because we make it so.  He made it so.  We are told to "remember" the Sabbath and "keep" the Sabbath.

For 50 years of my life, I disregarded these words.  Do you know why?  I sat in church on Sunday listening to the reasoning that "Christians" worship on the "lord's day".  And what have us Christians determined to be the "lord's day"?  Sunday.  I guess you could say that we just decided to choose this day, not because there are instructions in the bible and not because the example set for us by the Disciples warranted this change, but simply because we differentiate ourselves from Jews.  As well, there is in every history book, the fact that Sabbath became illegal in the 4th century as a way to separate from the Jews.  Man changed it..............and we follow man.

Ok, I get it.  We have all had mixed emotions when it comes to what we believe are the differences in Christianity and Judaism.  But if we could just take off our 21st century lens and put on a 1st century lens, we would find that the only difference between Peter, Paul, James, Jude, Titus, Timothy, John, all raised as Jews (even though Titus & Timothy had one gentile parent), all of them now believed the scriptures declaring Messiah's arrival had been fulfilled.  He had come.  They met Him (most of them).  And upon meeting Him, His identity was undeniable.  He did the things that the scriptures declared He would do...........at least some of them.  No, He didn't "come with a flaming sword" to rule but they understood He would return in that role.  But what these Disciples did NOT do, was declare a new way to salvation, a new religion, a Torahless doctrine.

So, I have been diligently trying to keep my 1st century glasses firmly in place while studying scripture so that I do not make assumptions that would render the text to be saying something it does not say.  For instance, when Paul says not to let anyone judge you about Sabbath, he is actually encouraging those of like mindedness, to be strong and courageous to follow YHVH's commands even when those around you do not.  Now, I used to think just the opposite was true.  I used to think Paul was telling us that we can judge which day is holy.  I used to think he was giving us freedom to change things or do them the way we want them to be done.  I used to think a lot of things that are not true.

I found myself heartbroken over how arrogant and ignorant that position is/was.  When I began to read Genesis though Deuteronomy over and over, I realized something quite profound.  When did YHVH allow anyone to change what He said or do it the way that person wanted it done?  When did YHVH's word not stand as truth?  When did He decide that He would do away with it or parts of it or allow another to do those things?  The answer is obvious.  He didn't.  We've just taught people that He did.

Once you really decide that you want a deeper relationship with the Father, He will lead you to where He has led me.  He will open your eyes to what is really going on in scripture.   It is one seamless book that does not contradict itself or change what is written.  To be in a covenant relationship with the Father, you choose.........."your people will be my people, your God my God".  There is no other way.  There is not a new religion that came on the scene.  There was a promised Messiah and He showed up.

What happened when He defeated death?  Well that is where we've all made great assumptions that are as inaccurate as they are ignorant to the truth.  He defeated sin.  He did away with it's hold over us.  We are no longer captives to sin.  And now we can follow our Father's instructions without the bondage that held us.  Why, why, why, have we created a new doctrine?  Why have we said that our Father's Torah is "nailed to the cross"?  Is it because we refuse to read the context of Colossians?  Because it clearly is talking about "man's" ordinances, "oral law" (Talmud), NOT the eternal, perfect Torah from heaven above.

Yet, many reading this and many hearing this will still not desire to know for themselves.  They will rest comfortably in their church doctrine that teaches a false message.  They will say that Paul wrote all sorts of things changing an old covenant to a new covenant.  They will read into the text what is not there and ignore the text that actually is there.  But even Paul, himself, declares he lives and teaches the Torah.  He even tells us that all covenants are binding and built upon and cannot change or are not abolished.  He even restates the new covenant of Jeremiah exactly as Jeremiah stated it.  And if we would simply pay attention, we would realize the location of the Torah, from stone tablets in a Tabernacle are now on flesh tablets in our temple bodies.  We house the Spirit of YHVH who teaches us His Torah.  We follow, as the house of Israel and the house of Judah, the covenant with our  forefathers and our example is Messiah's life.  Yehoshua was a Torah keeper, not a Torah breaker. He is the living Torah who stepped from the pages of scripture and now resides in us.  If Torah is done away with, then the Savior is done away with.

When will we surrender so that we can have the scales removed?

dining table redo

Sometimes I just can't get rid of things.  Maybe I'm a hoarder.  Maybe I'm just sentimental.  Bret and I bought this dining set 34 years ago.  It was in my basement sewing room because I had replaced it with a glass top 15 years ago.  

Out with the glass and back to my old french country friend.  I sanded and painted the top and bought new chairs.  

Because I wanted to "up" the french look, I found chairs at World Market and while assembling them, I covered over the linen seat with a soft gray velvet.  They are very roomy and comfortable; perfect for guests to linger over dinner.

Feels like a hug from an old friend!

AHHHHH......... Spring!

There is just something exhilarating about Springtime.  I know the gray of winter bursts into color.  But sitting in my den, we have a view outside of the most gorgeous backdrop of green trees.  It changes the light in my home to the point of changing the mood.  I'm sure our Father designed it that way.  In fact, almost every trial we face has a winter and a spring when finally we can see beyond the pain, our mood lifts and we smile.

On our little farm, Springtime means projects.  We love them.  We've been lazy all winter long waiting to get outside and work and get something accomplished.  And I don't just mean maintenance.  I mean we put effort into creating.

This year, one project on the books is a greenhouse.  We bought a kit called "chalet" (appropriately titled in french) that will serve as work station for the garden and the chicken coop.  I'll keep you posted on it's progress.

For now, enjoy some "life" from our yard courtesy of YHVH, Creator, Designer, Sustainer.

Eccles 8:15 So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.